# U.S. Courts: Does a witness still swear on a Bible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653 "2014-04-08T17:12:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/21 "2014-04-08T23:00:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **randompattern** : > > It always seemed to be a non-deterrent to lying. If a person is going to lie believer or not they will. I guess when it’s all said and done we still have to take a persons word for it that they’re not going to lie. I think this was the original reason behind the religious prohibition against swearing: You shouldn’t swear that you’ll tell the truth under some circumstances, because that implies that you won’t tell the truth under some other circumstances. Rather, you should “let your yes be yes and your no be no” under all circumstances. Which makes the “affirmation” work-around rather silly. It’s still the same silly little ritual, just with the word “swear” replaced by “affirm”, and an objection to the fact that it’s a silly ritual is still just as valid. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/22 "2014-04-09T00:55:02Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > What jurisdiction(s) have you testified in? I’m not disputing, just curious. I have tried cases in at least 10 states and have never seen a Bible in court. Local municipal court. County grand jury. County civil and criminal court. All in New Jersey. Hardly the Bible Belt. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/23 "2014-04-09T01:09:00Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Local municipal court. County grand jury. County civil and criminal court. All in New Jersey. Hardly the Bible Belt. Interesting. I haven’t been in courts in New Jersey, but I have noticed East, particularly the North East has kept more “traditional” court procedures. The furthest I’ve been into the Bible Belt is Kentucky. No Bibles in court there either, but to be admitted to practice there I had to swear I have never been in a duel. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/24 "2014-04-09T01:15:16Z")
Seen many, many people sworn in to testify in state and federal courts, have done so myself, even, but I don’t remember anybody with their hand actually on a Bible. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/25 "2014-04-09T01:44:21Z")
When I was called for jury duty, iirc we were all asked to raise our right hand and say “yes” in response to a inquiry that went something like, “Do you swear or affirm that the statements you are about to make are true to the best of your knowledge?”. So you could choose in your mind whether you were swearing or affirming without needing to make a fuss in court. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/26 "2014-04-09T04:29:21Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > So what does raising your right hand do? How is that any different that raising your left hand, or your right leg? Does that mean that if I raise my right hand, but crossed the fingers of my left hand behind my back then I’m not really swearing? It seems like such a pointless ritual. Just ask the damn question… are you going to tell the truth or not? Rituals, whether or not backed by supernatural beliefs, have powerful effects on human behavior. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/27 "2014-04-09T05:07:32Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I think we should all still have to put our hands on [testicles](http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/games-primates-play/201112/testify-comes-the-latin-word-testicle). Someone’s, even if not your own. I had to keep checking to see if that was a joke article/April Fool’s joke. Smells like one of those urban legend etymologies.[The origin of testify](http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/testify/). > [@](#): > > Folklore has it that ancient Romans would hold their testes while swearing oaths, hence the verb to testify. This is not true. The Romans did not swear oaths on their private parts. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/28 "2014-04-09T06:20:03Z")
But [other cultures](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+47%3A29&version=NRSVCE)[did](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+24:9&version=NRSVCE). At least, they swore on testicles, if not their own testicles. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/29 "2014-04-09T10:05:25Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > The whole “swearing in” deal is just a setup for perjury, which requires “an intentional act of lying after a person has taken an oath or affirmation to tell the truth.” Still, I wonder why they even bother with the empty ritual. It’s a sham that they even ask a witness if he promises to tell the truth (never mind whether you call that swearing or affirming). The witness has no choice but to agree. They might just as well cut the theater and have the judge simply tell each witness straight-up: “You are REQUIRED to tell the truth under penalty of perjury”. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/30 "2014-04-09T10:39:33Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Looks like it’s a holdover from the 17th century. According to [this](http://nwsidebar.wsba.org/2013/10/21/raise-right-hand-court/) article, a number of people that had previously been in court for a crime were branded on the right hand - There is one fundamental problem with that theory - the statute on benefit of clergy (4 Hen. VII, c. 13) specified that the brand should be applied to the left thumb. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/31 "2014-04-09T13:00:18Z")
Swearing on a Bible (or other holy book) is still [standard practice in Britain](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24588854) (though sleazy nonbelievers can get away with affirming that they’ll tell the truth). Side note: one of my favorite courtroom dramas, “Witness For The Prosecution” was on TV last night and witnesses were both doing the hand on the Bible thing and reading their oath off a piece of paper (while in some cases lying their asses off). What a great movie. U.S. courts are missing out by not having the attorneys and judge wear wigs. It’d add a little class to the proceedings. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/32 "2014-04-09T15:04:21Z")
Most Florida courts no longer use Bibles, but there are probably a few judges who still default to using them. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/33 "2014-04-09T15:33:04Z")
I have testified in court twice in the last two decades, in Tennessee and in Oregon. Both times, they judge asked me to raise my right hand and say that testimony I was about to give would be true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I never saw a bible. I’ve always had a fantasy that some day I’d be called into court and they’d tell me to put my hand on the bible and I’d say “Excuse me, can I borrow that for a sec? Thanks.” and turn to the [Matthew 5:34-37](http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mt/5.html#34) where it says never make any oaths but merely let your Yes be Yes and your No be No and read that verse out loud. Then watch the judge’s head explode. Sadly, this remains just a fantasy for me. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Side note: one of my favorite courtroom dramas, “Witness For The Prosecution” was on TV last night and witnesses were both doing the hand on the Bible thing and reading their oath off a piece of paper (while in some cases lying their asses off). If you watch the movie carefully, you’ll see that when Christine is in the witness box, everything she says is the truth. She merely says it in such a way that everyone thinks she’s lying (which is just what she wanted them to think) but the court has absolutely no case against her for perjury because not a single word of her testimony was false. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/34 "2014-04-09T16:32:58Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > If so, can it be refused? > If refused, what are the consequences? NO Consequences, period, I am sure all states have similar provisions/words of similar import. Ohio; 3.20 Oath and affirmation. When an oath is required or authorized by law, an affirmation in lieu thereof may be taken by a person having conscientious scruples against taking an oath. An affirmation has the same effect as an oath. 3.21 Form of oath. Subject to any section of the Revised Code that prescribes the form of an oath, a person may be sworn in any form the person deems binding on the person’s conscience. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/35 "2014-04-09T17:06:57Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > NO Consequences, period, I am sure all states have similar provisions/words of similar import. And even if they don’t the Constitution prohibits an oath requirement. > [@](#): > > The common law, as made applicable by Rule 26, requires neither an appeal to God nor the raising of a hand as a prerequisite to a valid oath. All that the common law requires is a form or statement which impresses upon the mind and conscience of a witness the necessity for telling the truth.3 Thus, defendant’s privilege to testify may not be denied him solely because he would not accede to a form of oath or affirmation not required by the common law. > > If defendant’s religious beliefs made repugnant or impossible to him an appeal to God or the raising of a hand as part of an oath or affirmation (and in this regard, his statement was to be believed), all the district judge need do is to make inquiry as to what form of oath or affirmation would not offend defendant’s religious beliefs but would give rise to a duty to speak the truth. The district judge could qualify defendant to testify in any form which stated or symbolized that defendant would tell the truth and which, under defendant’s religious beliefs, purported to impress on him the necessity for so doing. > > United States v. Looper, 419 F.2d 1405, 1407 (4th Cir. 1969) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/36 "2014-04-09T17:33:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Still, I wonder why they even bother with the empty ritual. It’s a sham that they even ask a witness if he promises to tell the truth (never mind whether you call that swearing or affirming). The witness has no choice but to agree. > > They might just as well cut the theater and have the judge simply tell each witness straight-up: “You are REQUIRED to tell the truth under penalty of perjury”. Nothing wrong with that, it is just ritual, but the point is make sure the witness is aware that he must tell the truth or be subject to perjury charges. I don’t see how that’s different than the judge asking me to “swear of affirm” that I tell the truth, and I respond by saying “I so affirm.”. The judge wouldn’t just tell a witness to tell the truth and not wait for an affirmative response. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/37 "2014-04-09T17:44:49Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Still, I wonder why they even bother with the empty ritual. It’s a sham that they even ask a witness if he promises to tell the truth (never mind whether you call that swearing or affirming). The witness has no choice but to agree. > > They might just as well cut the theater and have the judge simply tell each witness straight-up: “You are REQUIRED to tell the truth under penalty of perjury”. There’s no **logical** difference, but there may well be a **psychological** difference. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/38 "2014-04-09T18:12:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think this was the original reason behind the religious prohibition against swearing: You shouldn’t swear that you’ll tell the truth under some circumstances, because that implies that you won’t tell the truth under some other circumstances. Rather, you should “let your yes be yes and your no be no” under all circumstances. > > Which makes the “affirmation” work-around rather silly. It’s still the same silly little ritual, just with the word “swear” replaced by “affirm”, and an objection to the fact that it’s a silly ritual is still just as valid. It seems to me that it’s the other way around - swearing an oath on a Bible is silly, if not sacrilegious, when one can affirm instead. Why invoke the wrath of G-d when a believer is already expected to follow the exhortation to “let your yes be yes and your no be no”? If followers of the Abrahamic faiths (I can’t speak for those who believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster or the Elder Gods) are already bound by their faith to speak the truth, why should it be necessary to do anything but state this? With regard to the OP: I had jury duty in the past year or so, and no one swore on a Bible. It was all “swear or affirm, etc.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Rebellion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Johnny\_Rebellion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Rebellion)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/39 "2020-12-23T15:01:56Z")
You are mentally ill. Please get the help you desperately need. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653/40 "2020-12-23T15:09:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_Rebellion](#): > > You are mentally ill. Please get the help you desperately need… **Johnny\_Rebellion** , it is against the rules to insult other posters outside the Pit. It is also rather pointless to insult people for remarks made seven years ago. I suggest you read the rules and lurk for a while before posting again, or your career here will be short. This is closed. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-courts-does-a-witness-still-swear-on-a-bible/685653.md?page=3)